Pope Benedict: Effective leadership on sex scandal?
Pope Benedict XVI's efforts to deal with the Church's sex scandal raises this question: Can a leader hold managers to account on an issue where his own past performance is in question?
TODAY at 11 am: Live chat with National Catholic Reporter journalist and author John Allen on Pope's role in scandal.
Lessons from the Air Force Academy
When I helped address similar scandals at the Air Force Academy some years ago, I learned that the first order of business is full disclosure.
The Inquisition we need
The Church has a history of "holy wars" to reclaim "holy lands." A Crusade to weed out the sex offenders would certainly restore some semblance of moral authority.
Why didn't he know?
People will forgive a lot, but not hypocrisy, nor shirking of responsibility.
Use the past for the future
"Mistakes are human and often increase personal development as we continuously learn from them."
A step-by-step plan
"While addressing a crisis of this magnitude is painful, it must start with the Pope admitting mistakes the Vatican has made, including his own."
Transforming the priesthood
"He could overcome the shame of the church by leading an effort to develop a more mature and loving clergy."
A failure of duty
Until the leader of the Catholic Church acknowledges there is an underlying institutional problem, the abuse will continue and he will fail in his duty of service to the people and to the Church.
Take a look in the mirror
The Pope's understanding of justice appears to be different than that of many critics outside the Catholic Church.
Hide, deny and obfuscate
The Catholic church is too strong to have gone out of business under past questionable popes, but it can certainly be weakened by indifferent leadership in a time of crisis.
The power of coming clean
When it comes to leadership "do as I say, not as I do" is hardly a compelling directive.
Necessary steps of confession
The Church has no authority other than moral authority; if it permits its moral authority to erode by an unwillingness to admit its errors and undertake reform, it will have no authority at all.
Flunking the accountability test
A leader who is not accountable will act self-interestedly (or for a select few) rather than doing what the organization needs him or her do: stand up for what is right even when it is hard to do.
Save & Share:
phlegyas: In all of this church defenders are constantly referring to "past" abuse of children.
It takes many years for abused children to become adul...
MartinGonzalez1: A quick answer is that the Catholic Church seems to be committed to protecting the youth from pedophilia. They've put in a considerable amou...
Watcher1: Obviously from past and present actions, not in the Catholic church. The Catholic church hired a PR firm for god's sake, they're not about ...
